Shoe



Dec. 4, 1934.

w J. J. SHEA SHOE Fiied Feb; 19, 1932 s Sheets-Sheet; 1

Egg-4 INVENTORI A'TTORNEK J. J. SHEA Dec. 4, 1934.

SHOE

Filed Feb. 19, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 J. J. SHEA 'Dec. 4, 1934.;

SHOE

Filed Feb. 19, 1952 3' Sheets-Sheet .5

iJATTOR/V K Patented Dec. 4, 1934 PATENT OFFICE SHOE John J. Shea,Nashua,

N. H., assignor to J F.

McElwain (30., Boston, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts ApplicationFebruary 19, 1932, Serial No. 593,956

6 Claims.

This invention relates to shoes and to methods of making shoes. Theinvention is more especially concerned with low shoes of the bal type.

The usual method of making an upper for a bal oxford shoe consists incutting out a vamp lining in two parts or sections divided approximatelyalong the median line of the shoe; cutting a quarter lining in eitherone or two pieces, as desired; stitching the two parts of the quarterlining together (providing a two-piece lining is used) andsubsequentlystitching the forward edges of the quarter lining to the rear edges ofthe vamp lining sections. The upper edge of the lining so prepared nextis stitched to the upper edge of the quarter, this operation beingcommonly known as top stitching, the upper is next eyeletted, andfinally the two sections of the vamp lining are stitched together byrunning a seam along approximately the median line of the shoe lining.

This method has the advantage of permitting all of the stitchingoperations to be performed on a sewing machine of the flat table type.It is, therefore, economical and has been used almost exclusively in theless expensive grades'of shoes of the particular type mentioned. It isopen to the objection, however, thatthe seam running longitudinally ofthe vamp lining through the central portion thereof frequently is foundto be uncomfortable.

With a view to eliminating this diificulty, it has been proposed todivide the vamp lining at one side of the shoe, and to secure thesections together by a seam running diagonally from the forward edge ofthe quarter lining toward the toe of the shoe and at one side thereof.This method, however, only partially overcomes the difiicultyabovementioned since it results in a construction having a seam in the liningfor the vamp portion of the shoe.

The present invention deals especially with this difficulty and it aimsto devise a thoroughly satisfactory solution for the problem which itpresents.

It'is also an object of the invention to obviate the launching of uppermaterial at the forward end of the lacing slit or vent for the shoewhich frequently is a cause of annoyance and discomfort.

The nature of the invention will be readily understood from thefollowing description when read in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in theappended claims.

In the drawings,

Figure l is a plan View of a toe lining or vamp lining;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a one-piece quarter lining;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the piece stitched thereto;

Fig. 4 is a plan view showing the vamp and quarter lining pieces and thetongue stitched together at one side of the shoe;

Fig. 5 is a' plan viewshowing the parts after the top stitching andeyeletting operations;

Fig. 6 is a'view of the inside of a closed lining before the vampingoperation has been performed;

Fig. 7 is a perspective View of a shoe including the upper shown in Fig.6;

Fig. 8 is a view of the inside of a shoe showing the relationshipbetween the tongue and the wings of the quarter lining;

Figs. 9, 10 and 11 are views similar to Figs. l, 2 and 6, respectively,illustrating a modification, part of the quarter lining being brokenaway in Fig. 10; and

' Figs. 12, 13 and 14 are similar views with parts broken away showing afurther modification.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, a one-piece toe lining or vamp liningis shown at 2 and a one piece quarter'lining at'3. Usually in a low shoethe quarter lining is made of leather and the vamp lining of fabric. Thefirst step in assembling the parts of the lining consists in overlappingthe forward edge of the quarter lining upon the rearward edge of thevamp lining at one tongue with a lining 6 side of the vamp and'stitchingthese'parts together along the seam 4. It is customary to notch or slitthe rear edges of the'vamp lining,

as shown at 5, to designate the allowable amount of overlap, the edge ofthe quarter lining being registered with the ends of the slits 5. Ifde-- sired, the tongue 6 with its lining piece '7 stitched thereto maybe tacked to the shoe lining in this first seaming operation, the tonguehaving a lateral extension or tab 8 through which the seam 4 may run.

The lining in this condition is next secured to the quarter by the topstitching operation. Referring to Fig, 5 'it will be seen that the twosections of the quarter 10 have been secured by the back'seamlZ'beforethe quarter and the lining are brought together. The upper edges of thequarter and the quarter lining are registered with each other, and theseparts are secured together in this relationship by the top seam 14, thisseam starting at one side of the lacing slit or vent, or, in otherwords, at the forward end per edges of the quarter and quarter lining tothe opposite end of the quarter.

All of the stitching operations so far described can be performed in asewing or stitching machine of the table type, since the parts can allbe stitched in a flat condition.

The eyelets next are set in the two wings or nose pieces 10 and 10 ofthe quarter and its lining.

It then becomes necessary to close the upper, and this operation isperformed by inserting between the quarter and the quarter lining therear edge 2, Figs. 4 and 5, of the vamp lining at the side of the upperopposite to the seam 4! so that the forward edge 3" of the quarterlining is overlapped upon the edge 2' of the vamp lining, and thensecuring these parts 2' and 3" perms nently together by stitching tomake the seam 15, Fig. 6. The proper degree of overlap is determined atthis side of the shoe by slits. or notches 5' corresponding to the slits5. Because of the peculiar formation of a shoe upper when it is closed,it is necessary to perform this stitching operation on a sewing machineequipped with a raised work support which occupies relatively littlespace. Such a machine as that known commercially as a Post sewingmachine preferably is used.

The remaining operations necessary to complete the manufacture of theshoe may be performed according to any suitable or convenient method. Itwill be observed, however, that in this shoe there are no seams in thevamp lining. Consequently, the objections which attend the use of anytwo piece vamp lining with the necessary overlapping of thepa-rts andthe stitching of them together at some point where the. seam crosses thetoes or the joints of the foot is completely avoided. In addition, theoperations of securing the sections of lining together: may be performedin. such a manner that the expense of making the shoe by this method isnot substantially greater than the old commonly practiced method abovedescribed.

After the lining and quarter have. been secured together in the mannerabove described, it is acommon practice to secure the end portions ofthe quarter together at the forward end of the lacing slit or vent by abarring operation and then to stitch the vamp 16, Fig. '7, and thequarter together, this step commonly being referred. to as vamping. ofstitches'arerun for this purpose, as shown at 1'! and 18, Fig. 8. Thesetwo seamsextend through the forward edge of the tongue 6 and the forwardends of the quarter lining 3. Consequently, in shoes made by this priorart method there are at least three thicknesses of leather all. stitchedsecurely together at the throat of the shoe or the forward end of thelacing slit in additionto one or more layers of fabric lining. Thisproduces a. bunch which frequently is extremely uncomfortable.

With a. view to avoiding this difficulty,.the. forward ends of thequarter lining 3 are out off, as indicated at a and b, at such angles.that the two edges diverge from the end of thelacing slit along linesextending diagonally forward toward opposite sides of the shoe. Theforward end of the tongue lies in the notch formed between thesediverging edges a and b, as clearly shownin Fig. 8, and the greaterportions of both edges lie behind the forward seam 17 which secures thetongue to the vamp. This construction, there- Usually two seams or twolines.

of the quarter, and running along the entire upfore, avoids the presenceof an excessive bunch immediately in front of the throat and preventsthe formation of an abrupt shoulder at this point where it is liable tocause discomfort to the wearer. Excessive material in this region isfurther reduced by skiving the inner edges of the tongue in the usualmanner.

A further advantage of notching the forward ends of the quarter liningwings or nose pieces is that it facilitates the operation of insertingthe edge 2 of the vamp lining between the quarter lining and the quarterpreparatory to running the seam 15. This is due to the fact that the topstitching seam l4: terminates at the throat of the shoe, or, in otherwords, at the forward end of the vent or lacing slit, and the entireedge 3' of the quarter lining is left free so that the edge 2' of thevamp lining can easily be slipped under the edge 3- of the quarterlining, as above described. The wing or nose piece of a quarter liningof the usual conventional shape is like that shown in Fig. 10, and whensuch a lining has been top stitched to a quarter and the seam 4 run inthe manner above described, it is then impossible to insert the oppositeedge of the vamp between the quarter and quarter lining at the open sideof the lining. The construction above described efiectuallyovercomesthis difiiculty in addition to avoiding the excessive bunching ofmaterial at the throat of the shoe. The former of these advantages canbe obtained by somewhat different constructions illustrated in Figs. 9to 14, inclusive.

Referring first to Figs. 9, l0 and 11 it will be seen that a quarterlining 3 of the shape commonly used heretofore is employed with aonepiece vamp lining 2 Both wings or nose pieces of the quarter liningare slitted as shown at 20 and 21. The vamp lining andquarter liningpieces are next secured together by the seam 4 corresponding to the seam4, the top stitching and eyeletting. operationsare performed, and laterthe lining is closed by inserting the rearward edge of. the vamp liningat the open side of the vent in the slit 21, overlapping the open marginof the quarter lining uponit, and then stitching the overlapped partstogether to produce the seam 15*, Fig. 11, this seam corresponding tothe seam. 15 in Fig. 6.

According to the variation of this method illustrated in Figs. 12, 13and 14,. the one-piece-vamp lining 2 is provided with a vent whichinstead of being shaped in the usual manner, is extended forward to apoint 22, Fig. 12. The wings or nose pieces of the quarter lining 3 aremade of the usual shape. Thislining piece next is stitched to therearward edge of the vamp lining at one side only of the vent to producethe seam 4 Fig. 14. The top stitching and eyeletting operations next areperformed and finally the quarter is closed in the" manner abovedescribed by running the seam 15 The fact, however, that the entire edgeof the quarter lining at the openside of the lining is left free priorto running this seam, permits the insertion of the rearward unattachededge of the vamp lining 2 between the quarter and the quarter liningpreparatory to closing the lining.

These constructions shown in Figs. 9 to 14 thus are of advantage inpermitting the assembly of the parts in the manner above described, butthey arestill open to the objection of presenting an excessive bunch ofupper material at the throat of the shoe which has been an objectionablefeature of prior bal shoe constructions. Accordingly,

I prefer to notch the forward ends of the wings or nose pieces as shownin Fig. 6.

While the particular shoe shown is of the lace type, it is obvious thatthe invention is equally as applicable to button shoes.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim as new is:

1. In a shoe, the combination with a quarterprovided with a lacing slit,of a lining for said quarter, said lining having wings stitched to thequarter at opposite sides of said slit, and a tongue stitched to saidlining and quarter at the forward end of said slit, the forward edges ofsaid wings lying chiefly behind the front seam which unites the tongueto the quarter.

2. In a shoe, the combination with a quarter provided with a lacingslit, of a lining for said quarter, said lining having wings stitched tothe quarter at opposite sides of said slit, a tongue permanently securedto said lining and quarter at the forward end of said slit, the forwardends of said wings being shaped to extend from the forward end of saidlacing slit diagonally forward toward opposite sides of the shoe toprovide a rearwardly extending notch between said ends, and the forwardend of said tongue overlying said notch.

3. In a shoe, the combination with a quarter provided with a lacingslit, of a lining for said quarter, said lining having wings stitched tothe quarter at opposite sides of said slit, said wings beingsubstantially symmetrical, and a tongue stitched to said lining andquarter at the forward end of said slit, the forward edges of said wingslying chiefly behind the front seam which unites the tongue to thequarter.

4. In a shoe, the combination with a quarter provided with a lacingslit, of a lining for said quarter, said lining having wings stitched tothe quarter at opposite sides of said slit, said wings beingsubstantially symmetrical, a tongue permanently secured to said liningand quarter at the forward end of said slit, the forward ends of saidwings being shaped to extend from the forward end of said lacing slitdiagonally forward toward opposite sides of the shoe to provide arearwardly extending notch between said ends, and the forward end ofsaid tongue overlying said notch.

5. That improvement in methods of making low shoes of the bal typeprovided with a one piece vamp lining, the ends of which aresubstantially symmetrical and which extend rearwardly and approximatelyparallel to each other, forming a vent, which consists in stitching theforward edge of one leg of a one piece quarter lining to one edge ofsaid vent and to the adjoining rearward edge of said vamp lining butleaving the opposite edge of the vent and the opposite forward edge ofsaid quarter lining free, securing the lining sections so prepared tothe quarter of a shoe upper by top stitching said quarter lining andsaid quarter together, with the edge of the quarter lining lying at therear of the forward edge of the quarter, thereafter overlapping saidfree edge of the quarter lining upon the free edge of said vent and theadjacent unattached rear edge of said vamp lining, and stitching theparts so overlapped together to secure them permanently in saidoverlapped relationship.

6. That improvement in methods of making low shoes of the bal typeprovided with a one piece vamp lining, the ends of which aresubstantially symmetrical and which extend rearwardly and approximatelyparallel to each other, forming a vent, consisting in stitching the rearedge of the one piece vamp lining to the forward edge of a one piecequarter lining at one side only of the shoe upper, securing the liningsections so prepared to the quarter of the shoe upper by top stitchingsaid quarter lining and quarter together, thereafter inserting the rearedge of the vamp lining at the opposite side of the shoe between thequarter and quarter lining at the latter side, and securing the latteredge of the vamp lining permanently to said forward edge of the quarterlining by a seam lying behind the forward edge of the quarter.

JOHN J. SHEA.

